Wye Valley Chamber Music’s joyous Summer Residency returns from 21st -27th July with three summer concerts. The Residency is a celebration of chamber music, where the talented next generation of musicians learn, rehearse and perform with their internationally known tutors. Students and tutors spend a week together at Grade 1 listed Treowen, a Jacobean manor in Wonastow, near Monmouth, rehearsing together, taking masterclasses, and performing in three events - two in Treowen Manor and one in St Briavels church.

This year, tutors Daniel Tong (piano), Krysia Osostowicz (violin), Robin Ireland (viola), and Tim Smedley (cello) will be joined by the Elgar and Treowen Ensembles and the Florens and Slate Quartets, four groups of graduate and current students who are beginning to make their mark in the classical music world.

The opening concert on Wednesday 23rd July, 7pm, at Treowen Manor, starts with the Florens Quartet performing Grażyna Bacewicz’s String Quartet No. 4 - a dynamic, rhythmically driven piece displaying her distinctive Polish voice. The Elgar Ensemble, who return this year with a new line-up of players, follow them with Rebecca Clarke’s deeply lyrical Piano Trio; a richly textured and emotionally nuanced work blending Impressionist-style colour with Romantic intensity. The tutors complete the evening with a performance of Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G minor, a passionate and dramatic favourite, bursting with stormy fervour and tender lyricism.

The Residency Open Day at Treowen Manor on Saturday 26 July, (11am to 5.30pm) allows audiences a rare chance to see inside the creative process. In the morning, there is the opportunity to attend a choice of masterclasses, followed by a delicious lunch and then an afternoon concert which includes performances of Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E flat, K493; Clarke’s Viola sonata; Bridge’s Fantasy for Piano Quartet and Britten’s String Quartet No 2.

The Residency Finale concert on Sunday 27 July, 3pm, in St Briavels church, begins with Mozart’s Violin Sonata in E minor, K304, a poignant work filled with expressive lyricism and graceful restraint. Glazunov’s String Quintet is a lush, Romantic gem—full of sweeping melodies, charm, and lyricism. Then, in a rare treat, there are two movements of Bach’s Sonata in A minor reimagined for four violas by Residency viola tutor, Robin Ireland, bringing fresh depth and sonority to the solemn Grave and intricate Fugue. Shostakovich’s electrifying Piano Quintet, a bold and dramatic masterpiece, brings the Summer Residency to a dramatic close.

Tickets for both the Wednesday and Sunday concerts are £20 (students £5), whilst the Saturday Open Day tickets, which must be booked in advance, are £55 (students £20), and include the masterclasses, lunch and the afternoon concert. Tickets are available now from ticketsource.co.uk/wyevalleyfestival. More information about the Summer Residency musicians and the full programme for each concert is available at wyevalleyfestival.com.

The Residency is very grateful for the generous support of the Spoff’s Scholarship Fund, individual student sponsors and the Friends of Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival.